In October, 18-year-old Trayon Christian went into Barneys New York for a belt…and left with a class-action lawsuit. After buying a designer accessory, the African American teen was accused of credit card theft and handcuffed by plainclothes police, detained in a holding cell, and interrogated by detectives. "His only crime was being a young black guy buying a $300 belt," says his attorney, Michael Palillo.

The incident made national news and prompted others, including actor Robert Brown, to share their own tales of "shop and frisk"… and to file their own wrongful discrimination lawsuits. (It also became a contentious issue for rapper Jay Z, who created a holiday collection with the luxury giant to benefit The Shawn Carter Scholarship Foundation.)

Now department stores are taking action with a "Shopper's Bill of Rights," a document drafted with help from the Rev. Al Sharpton. It declares the involved boutiques, including Barneys, Macy's, and Lord & Taylor, are "committed to ensuring that all shoppers, guests, and employees are treated with respect and dignity and are free from unreasonable searches, profiling, and discrimination of any kind in our store." It also bans "excessive force" and "threatening, vulgar language." (Though presumably, threatening or vulgar language is okay? Just not both together?)

Will the new initiative impact holiday shopping habits? That remains to be seen—though Jay Z's collaboration with Barneys does seem to be selling briskly, with luxe street wear items like leather boxing shorts and Rick Owens hoodies only left in limited sizes.